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'Dallas Buyers Club' Moving Up Release to Early November

The Matthew McConaughey drama is looking to create more breathing room as awards season unfolds.

Hoping to gain a competitive edge amid an incredibly crowed playing field, Focus Features is moving up the release of awards hopeful Dallas Buyers Club from Dec. 6 to Nov. 1.

The AIDS drama, starring Matthew McConaughey, is loosely based on the real-life story of Ron Woodroof, who began smuggling anti-viral medications into the U.S. from all over the world after being diagnosed with HIV.

A bevy of films hoping to transform into awards contenders open the next weekend, including David O. Russell's American Hustle, also starring Bale opposite Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and Disney's adult drama Saving Mr. Banks, starring Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson.

While October is likewise jam-packed with potential awards players, Dallas Buyers Club, also starring Jennifer Garner, is hoping to create breathing room by opening Nov. 1. Its main competition among specialty fare is biopic Diana, starring Naomi Watts (that film received its release date earlier Monday). The drama has two weeks before Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street debuts.

Generally speaking, award films are opening earlier this year in the hopes of replicating the successful strategy of last year's Oscar winner Argo, which debuted in early October.